Ban Lifted from Some Pokémon GO Accounts

Niantic has announced that it would lift bans from some Pokémon GO users who tried skirting the game’s rules.

(CCM) — Niantic International, the developer of Pokémon GO, announced that it would lift bans from some accounts that were accused of cheating in the game by using third-party apps. These add-ons helped players to move ahead in the game, which requires a lot of physical activity, sometimes without ever having to move at all. The company originally banned these users for lifetime for compromising “the integrity of the game.” But the ban will now be lifted from all of the so-called wrongly blocked accounts, according to the company.

However, add-ons that trick the Pokémon GO server by showing the device as moving on an actual map and, in Niantic’s words, "scrape data from company’s servers” will still result in an account ban. These include sites and third-party apps that remotely capture Pokémon, battle or deploy on Gyms, or harvest resources from PokéStops. The company’s reasoning behind such bans is that it hopes to provide a fair, fun, and legitimate gaming experience for all players worldwide.